Chapter 6 - THE BROTHER WHO BETRAYED EVERYONE
Nathan disappeared before the investigators could question him.
His phone was turned off.
His car was abandoned at a parking garage.
His house was empty.
Madison was furious.
Not because she was worried about her husband.
Because she had discovered their joint accounts were nearly empty.
She came to my apartment without warning.
I opened the door.
She stood there crying.
“I need your help.”
I almost closed the door.
“Madison.”
“Please.”
“What happened?”
“Everything is gone.”
“Your husband?”
“He took the money.”
I stared at her.
“How much?”
“About $190,000.”
“Where did it come from?”
She looked ashamed.
“Harbor Crest.”
I sighed.
“Madison, you knew.”
“No.”
“You knew about the company.”
“I knew there was an investment account.”
“You didn't know your husband was moving money?”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“I swear.”
I believed her.
Partially.
She had always been selfish.
But selfishness wasn't the same as criminal intent.
“Why did Nathan take it?”
“I don't know.”
“Did he say anything?”
“He said he was going to fix everything.”
“That's what everyone says.”
She started crying harder.
“I thought you hated me.”
“I did.”
She looked surprised.
I continued.
“But this isn't about whether I hate you.”
“Then help me.”
“I will help you find the truth.”
We contacted investigators.
Madison gave them access to her accounts.
That helped.
Nathan had transferred money to three companies.
One belonged to Evelyn.
One belonged to Daniel, a former business partner.
The third had no obvious connection.
But the account holder's name stopped me cold.
Ryan Bennett.
I stared at the screen.
“That can't be.”
The investigator looked at me.
“Your husband?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
We traced the account.
It had been opened four years earlier.
Before our marriage.
It had received regular deposits.
Then one large transfer.
$410,000.
I looked at Ryan.
He had been sitting quietly in the corner.
“What is this?”
He looked at the screen.
His face went pale.
“I didn't know about that account.”
“It's in your name.”
“I know.”
“Then how?”
He shook his head.
“I never opened it.”
The investigator asked him for identification.
Then compared signatures.
They didn't match.
Someone had forged his identity.
The account had been used to receive money from Nathan.
Then the money had moved again.
To Canada.
I looked at the investigator.
“So Nathan isn't working alone.”
“No.”
“Who is?”
“We don't know.”
That evening, Ryan and I sat in my apartment.
We weren't together anymore.
But we were still working together.
It was strange.
Almost peaceful.
“I owe you an apology,” he said.
“You've given me several.”
“I know.”
He looked at me.
“This one is different.”
I waited.
“I should have told you about my family years ago.”
“Yes.”
“I thought I could manage them.”
“You couldn't.”
“I know.”
He looked down.
“I thought being a good son meant keeping Mom happy.”
“And being a good husband?”
He closed his eyes.
“I forgot.”
I looked at him.
“That's the part I'll never understand.”
“I know.”
We sat in silence.
Then my phone rang.
It was Margaret.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“We found Nathan.”
“Where?”
“Airport.”
“Is he leaving the country?”
“He tried.”
“Did he have the money?”
“No.”
“Then where is it?”
She hesitated.
“That's the problem.”
“What?”
“The money is already gone.”
“Where?”
“Into an investment fund.”
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“Claire, someone transferred almost $900,000 into an investment account using your identity.”
I stood.
“What investment account?”
“An account created last month.”
“Who opened it?”
“We're investigating.”
I felt dizzy.
“Could they access my assets?”
“Potentially.”
“Then shut it down.”
“We're trying.”
My phone buzzed.
Another call.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A man's voice said,
“Claire Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“You don't know me.”
“Who are you?”
“I know what your husband did.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He didn't steal your money.”
“Then what did he do?”
“He protected it.”
I looked at Ryan.
“From whom?”
The voice answered.
“From the woman who raised him.”
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Ryan had heard.
“Who was that?”
“I don't know.”
Then my email notification appeared.
One new message.
No subject.
One attachment.
I opened it.
A photograph.
Evelyn.
Standing beside a man I had never seen before.
Behind them was a bank.
The timestamp was from two weeks earlier.
The man was wearing a dark suit.
And on his wrist was a watch I recognized.
It belonged to Nathan.
I looked at Ryan.
“Nathan wasn't trying to escape.”
“What?”
“He was meeting someone.”
“Who?”
I zoomed in on the photograph.
The man beside Evelyn was older.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Expensive suit.
Then I recognized him.
I had seen him once before.
At our wedding.
He had been introduced as one of Evelyn's old friends.
His name was Richard Cole.
And he was the chairman of the bank that had approved the suspicious transfers.
Ryan stared at the photograph.
“No.”
“What?”
“My mother knows him.”
“How?”
“He was my father's business partner.”
I felt a chill.
“Then this goes back further than we thought.”
May you like
Ryan nodded.
“Much further.”
